Category Archives: Uncategorized

by | February 2, 2015 · 1:30 pm

The Roots of Ernest Tubb

As I was reading Christine Warren’s Honky Tonk Debutante, I made a mental note at her mention of Ernest Tubb, the man credited with starting honky-tonk music. Tubb, nicknamed “The Texas Troubadour”, had an incredible influence on the sound of traditional country music, and as Warren stated, his hit song “Walking the Floor Over You” was the first honky-tonk hit and started the golden era of honky-tonk music. While Ernest Tubb is an important figure for every country music fan, he is especially notable for me. Before Tubb gained worldwide fame and recognition, he got his start in my hometown, good old San Angelo, Texas.

For those of you who haven’t heard of San Angelo, it is located right smack dab in the middle of Texas, far isolated from any interstates or big cities. It never rains (at one point last year we had just 15 months left in our water supply), and there really isn’t anything to do for entertainment. It’s a typical West Texas oil town.

One thing there is to do in San Angelo is see live music. Texas Country artists like Aaron Watson and Kyle Park are always playing at Midnight Rodeo, and local singers play at bars around town. Famous artists like George Strait and Lee Ann Rimes used to play at the San Angelo Rodeo before they made it big, so there is also lots of history in the city’s music scene.

San Angelo country singer Case Hardin

But as I mentioned above, San Angelo’s real claim to fame is the place that gave Ernest Tubb his start. Tubb moved to San Angelo from San Antonio in 1939, and was given a daily radio show on a local station, where he was paid $2.50 a day. The wage for the radio show wasn’t enough to support his family, so he also drove a beer delivery truck for $2 a day, plus 8 cents for each beer sold. In addition to his two jobs, he was known to set up on the street corner to play his guitar and sing for passersby. Tubb liked San Angelo so much that he wrote the song “Beautiful San Angelo”. Just four years after moving to San Angelo, Tubb was a member of the Grand Ole Opry and in the middle of a career which saw him collaborate with singers like Loretta Lynn, and even garnered him a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Tubb was instrumental in the sound of honky-tonk music, and none of it would have been possible without his short time in San Angelo.

Ernest Tubb’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

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Filed under Classic Country, Honky Tonk, Live Music, Reflection, Texas, Uncategorized

by | January 30, 2015 · 8:00 pm

The End of an Era: Who Will Claim the Title of ‘King of Country Music’?

george-strait-ftrCowboy boots echoed through the concrete corridors of Cowboys Stadium as my twin, Mason, and I eagerly awaited the familiar twang of the king of country music. When the lights went down, I could feel the stadium shaking beneath my boots as enthusiasts from across the country screamed for the one and only George Strait.

Last May when I graduated from high school, my parents gifted us with the experience of a lifetime: the opportunity to go to George Strait’s absolute last concert in Cowboys Stadium in June. Naturally, Mason and I were absolutely overjoyed to see the cowboy ride away for the last time. We’d grown up listening to classics like “Amarillo by Morning” and “Check Yes or No” (one of the first song I ever committed to memory). But we were no country music snobs, we also appreciated his newer music like “I’ve Got a Car” and “Twang.”

george_strait_stadiumThe concert was everything you could possibly want to see out of Strait: his all-time best songs accompanied by some of the hottest, most talented voices in country music today. Miranda Lambert, Kenny Chesney, Jason Aldean, Alan Jackson and so many more sung duets with him during his 3 hour long finale. He was happy and sad and sentimental and everything in between. When he sang his last song, “The Cowboy Rides Away,” you could feel the emotional he poured into the song. There was not a dry eye in the entire sold out stadium. It was, too put it plainly, incredible. Easily the best concert I have ever been to.

However, walking out of the venue that night, I couldn’t help but wonder who would take over his throne? For the past 20 years, King George has reigned supreme and consistently produced chart-topping hits—he has 60 number one hits. It seemed as though there wasn’t any obvious choice. All the artists who got on stage with him were good, sure, but were they country music royalty?

Country music is in need of a hero. It needs a new traditional, Texas country voice. While the bro-country music has taken off and has an abundance of talent, we’ve left traditional country without a leader. Hopefully we’ll have the next George Strait come out of the woodwork and assume the throne. Until then, I’ll be left swooning over fifteen to twenty year old albums and wishing some of the greats never quit.

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by | January 29, 2015 · 8:00 pm

Tailgates, Beer, Women, and the Bro-Country Takeover

While I love it just as much as the next person when there is “nowhere to go, nowhere to be,” and while I found myself in this situation more times than not over the winter break, I never once chose to roll into town and “ take another lap around.” These lyrics, from Cole Swindell and Florida Georgia Line respectively, seem to summarize the recent level of song writing that has taken over the country music world. Although many country music fans have voiced their negative opinions about this new “bro-country” style, and how originality and creativity has all but slipped away from the genre, do they have any substantial argument for their case? An article that I saw repeatedly posted to my Facebook newsfeed while not having my “bed backed up to the water” over the break might have the answer to this question (Parmalee).

FGLrealI will be the first to admit that I have been known to drive around on a nice day with the windows down listening to the bro-country anthems that sing of this very thing. And while in this post I voice my negative opinions towards this new style of country, I cannot deny that the tunes being put on the radio recently are catchy and easy to sing along to. However, what I can defend, with the help of savingcountrymusic.com, is that when these songs come on the radio, I can never tell who they are. Whether it is Florida Georgia Line, Blake Shelton, or Luke Bryan, they are all singing about warm summer days, hitting on women, and back country roads.

The similarities within this new style do not stop with just the words but continue even further with the music that accompanies the lyrics. A DJ known as Sir Mashalot, and an accompanying article by savingcountrymusic.com, shows the truth behind these comparisons. By combining the top hits of six different artists of today’s bro-country movement, Sir Mashalot was able to show the scary resemblances that exist. You can listen for yourself, but combined together, the six songs flow together almost as well as any other bro-country song.

As I have mentioned before, I believe this new style of country music has its appropriate time and place. However, I worry where the future of country music as a whole is headed. What happened to the country music songs that carried with them real life lessons? What happened to the clever lines that the listener can only help but tip their hat and grin to? I fear that classic, meaningful lines like “Daddies don’t love their children every now and then. It’s a love without end, amen” and “to the world, you may just be another girl, but to me, baby, you are the world” are quickly being replaced with butchery of the English language like “keeping it real like chill like only have a drink or two” and “A little something bumping, thump, thumping on the wheel ride” (Strait, Paisley, Shelton, Florida Georgia Line). I can only hope that creativity and originality can resurface within the country music genre.

Parmalee

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Filed under Bro Country, Uncategorized

by | · 12:00 pm

The Demise of Country Music

I stopped listening to country music on the radio a few years ago, right as “bro country” was beginning to become mainstream. I wouldn’t be able to tell you any of the new songs or new artists, but every time I happen to come across a country radio station it always seems to be the same thing: dudes like Florida Georgia Line bro-ing it up and singing songs about their trucks or how country they are. I know that doesn’t describe all country music on the radio these days, but it’s apparent that bro country is what the industry thinks will sell the best. Maybe it’s just my West Texas roots, but to me that isn’t even close to what country music is supposed to be.

Yesterday as I was scrolling through Facebook, through the dozens of stories and articles being “shared” by my friends, I saw one video that really caught my eye and seemed to prove my belief today’s country music. If you haven’t already seen the video I encourage you to watch. It’s kind of eye-opening about the state of country music today.

Pretty crazy, right? That seems like pretty solid proof that Nashville is just pumping out the same song with different words, and people are buying it. That video reminded me of a different video that came out at the end of 2013 with the same concept, but it was a review of more than just six songs:

Whether you like that type of music or not you have to say that video is pretty funny. To me, it is kind of depressing to see country music deteriorate to this state. I guess if that’s what the people want then so be it. I just think that bro country is meaningless and repetitive, and these videos seem to back me.

They say there’s a George Strait song for everything, and the topic of bro country is no exception. In 2001, a full decade before bro country burst onto the scene, George Strait released a song called “Stars on the Water” as part of his The Road Less Traveled album. The song is most likely the first use of auto-tune in a country song, except it is Strait’s way of mocking “stars” who use voice enhancers and other things of that nature. “Stars on the Water” makes George Strait seem almost psychic, giving a subtle dig at the future artists who dominate the world of country music today.

Strait also collaborated with Alan Jackson on “Murder on Music Row”, in which they claim “someone killed country music” in the chase for “the almighty dollar and lust for worldwide fame”. The lyrics to this song perfectly describe bro country music, and they are probably right when they sing “Ol’ Hank wouldn’t have a chance on today’s radio”.

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Filed under Bro Country, Classic Country, Country Pop, New Country, Uncategorized